An Image of Happiness
by Mable
Summary: While in the Emptiness 9 and Child find a still working camera with some remaining film. 9, immediately interested, decides to take full advantage of this discovery, dragging an only partially will Child along with him. In the end maybe they'll gain something a little more than a simple picture? 9xChild Oneshot


**Mable: Here's a request for 'Cloud on the Cloud'. I actually have others I should have finished before this, but I got a sudden rush of inspiration and decided to take it when I could. I'm rating it K+, but there is light swearing on Child's part, so be warned. Anyway, I don't own 9, Enjoy!**

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_**An Image of Happiness**_

In all honesty it was probably the lens that made it so interesting. That or perhaps the lens had caught the light which caught his optics. Either way the two caught his attention and he hopped down to where it was lodged in a pile of rubble from a broken section of wall. It looked rectangular and was both black and silver. The lens caught his interest the most; it reminded him of a large Stitchpunk optic or a small Machine one. He looked over it, tracing over the scratched nameplate on its front, and finally called back to the other with him. "I think I found something!"

It wasn't often that Nine and Child were out here alone but somehow they were. Child had needed to search for particular parts to work on a new Training Beast, a non-spider one, and had brought Nine along to help. He quickly hurried to the top of the mound and peered down, only to lose a bit of interest as he saw it. "It probably doesn't work anymore." He casually remarked and Nine looked back at him, now standing beside the strange box to see it better, "What even is it? It sort of… It almost looks like the twins' projector." He deduced curiously.

Child felt slightly amused and slightly endeared at Nine's somewhat childlike curiosity. Scrambling down the rocks, it was almost impossible not to because of some loose gravel, he stood beside the zippered male. "It's a photo box, also known as a camera. They're used to take still photos." At this Nine perked greatly and murmured, "A camera…" As though he was unlocking a part of his mind that he didn't know he was suddenly interested in this camera before him and wanted to try it out for himself. "I wonder if it still works…" He tried to slip behind it, now noticing something lying beside it, connected by a cord.

"What does this do?" He asked curiously as he lifted it to prop against the side of the camera. It was heavy, and at the top was a strange, bowl-like structure. Before Nine could get a full answer he started to fumble with the camera itself. Child came a bit closer to the other and explained, "It looks like a flash of some kind… Nine, the chances of it working this long after the war are non-existent, especially considering that we found it in-." His voice was stolen as a bright light suddenly blinded him. For a few seconds he could only blink his widened optics away and hope that vision eventually returned.

Nine considered the blinding flash a victory. "It does work! This is great, we could take pictures of ourselves, of everyone!" He smiled eagerly as he continued to overlook the strange contraption before him. He then looked over to Child who was still rubbing his optics in an attempt to regain his sight fully. "Help me carry it back to the Library." The younger insisted, trying to list the heavy camera. Though he could do it well enough, the flash was a problem in its own, and it was obvious that he'd need some assistance. Child came forward quietly and helped, not willing to say anything now that he was proved wrong in a somewhat embarrassing display that took his sight.

It took an excruciatingly long time to get back to the Library. They did finally make it back, however, and Nine stopped them in the courtyard. "Here, the lighting's better out here than in there, take a picture of me and see if it works again." Child raised a brow, but decided not to question it and instead propped it up as best as he could. He peered through before beckoning the other back. "Keep going, you're too close." Nine moved back a few steps and smiled. "Now move to the right so you're center." The younger did so. "Too far to the right. Move left a bit." Another few steps, "And now forward."

"Are you doing this on purpose?" He suddenly questioned and Child's slight smirk was more than enough of an answer. "Smile, Poppet." He then went to take the picture and Nine forced a sudden, wide smile to appeal to the camera. Unfortunately he was now incapacitated by the stunning brightness of the flash. He stands there dazed, staggering a bit, as Child stares at the camera in confusion. "Did you hear that?" Nine spoke, "Can you be more specific? Maybe my hearing's gotten better now that I'm blind." There was no doubt Child was smirking again at this point.

"It's probably worth just taking the bloody flash off." He pointed out and Nine finally made his way over before he continued, "It made a strange noise after that last shot…" He then pressed down the button to take a picture again and there was no response. Nine's optics widen in alarm, "Wait, you don't think we broke it, do you?!" Child gave Nine a confused look as though the male spoke in tongues before insisting, "That's a possibility… Or it just ran out of film." Nine wasn't liking how Child seemed to be purposely playing with him today and retorted, "I don't know. It wouldn't be the first time something you touched suddenly broke."

Child gave an unimpressed look before popping open the back of the camera and checking the film. Nine crouched down beside him and watched. "It's the film. Maybe there used to be a way to figure out if it was going to run out or not, but it's such an old thing that we probably only got lucky with a warning." He started to take the used film out with an exhale, "We need to find more then." He set the film off somewhere, not showing much care with it, which Nine immediately noticed. "Careful with that. We'll need that to make the pictures." Even though he knew little about cameras he had picked this up himself.

"Oh yes, one picture of me with optics so wide that I look completely magnet high and one of you with a psychotically stretched grin. I rather skip the pictures that make us look like nightmarish creatures from Wizard of Oz." Yet Nine wasn't convinced as he looked at the roll of film. "There's more than two pictures on it. There might even be ones from the war." He found more wonder entering his mind as he realized what could be in these pictures. "There could be pictures from during and before the war. It's like we could look back in time."

Child didn't seem nearly as interested, "Nothing worth seeing back then, Poppet, it would be better to waste our time developing the next roll of film. Let's go see if Two or Five have any clue where we can find more film. Looks like a 35mm, doesn't seem too hard to find." Nine wanted to argue, but the two quietly headed into the Library instead. Before they could find Five and Two they ran into another duo in particular, instead being the twins themselves. They were moving a book that looked too big for them to move even together into the back of the Library.

"Hey!" Nine greeted, waving to the two with his call and they looked over, nodding in their own greeting. Immediately afterwards they returned to moving the book as before. "Hey, uh… We're looking for some film?" The younger tested and just as he was about to wander off and forget about it, the two dropped the book at once. They hurried over to the two males, optics flickering in curious questioning as their minds raced as one, trying to remember anything and everything catalogued under 'film' in their nearly endless collection of wares.

Now Child decided to speak, "More specifically it's a-." Three moved in a bit too close and Child paused before slowly pulling his head back enough that there was breathing room, "It's a 35mm film roll that we need for a small camera with a flash. We have a roll that matches…" He looked to Nine briefly before pausing, "Where is it?" Nine furrowed his brow, "What do you mean, where is it? It's outside." The albino immediately took this opportunity to add, "Such is the fate of such an 'important piece of history'." He replied sarcastically and Nine fought the urge to roll his optics.

Three and Four were much more interested in the film and suddenly Four perked, raising a finger with an 'ah ha' look as her optics finally halted their flickering. She then hurried off with Three on her coat tails, the two males attempting to keep up as well. The twins beat them to the lift and headed into one of the higher cubbies as Nine and Child waited, Child briefly studying their book of newspaper clippings. "If you're so interested in those pictures…" He began somewhat quietly before his voice grew to a full question, "Then why not just check this book? They have put in more than enough."

Nine stared upwards at the pages that Child pointed out. Watched as he climbed up closer and pressed his hand against one of the newer clippings before scanning it over. Yet the younger felt a hollowness with it. "It's not the same." Child didn't even look over, "And how is that?" The zippered male paused before finishing, clearly and certainly, "Because the twins were made to record what humans created. Advancements in technology, in life, practical items, but that doesn't tell me about the humans. I can read about their anatomy, but I can see inside their soul."

A small silence passed as Child looked back to stare at him, "That was… Remarkably touching, Nine." Nine smiled slightly in a solemn way before looking to the book again, "Yeah…" A few more seconds of silence before Child added, "Or quite disturbing, depending on how exactly you plan to look at their soul." A pause and then Nine actually laughed a little. Though the statement was morbid, he found something slightly comical about it, or maybe just found it so relieving that something was here to ease the tense move. "Nothing gets past you, Muffin." Child responded, "Naturally, Poppet."

By now the twins were coming down again and Nine perked to see the roll of film sitting beside them. Then it occurred to him a new problem; a new roll of film just allowed him to take new pictures, it didn't help make the old ones. As the roll was put into his grasp he smiled and this asked with a lopsided smile, "Would you know anything about developing photos?" Thankfully the twins soon had a book open on the subject. Child's knowledge was rather vague on the subject; he knew it needed to be dark and that it took chemicals but not much else.

The rest of the day was devoted to two things; gathering said chemicals and making a makeshift darkroom. Surprisingly neither was a difficult task; the four, along with Seven and Eight who came to assist with protection and carrying, were able to find most of the ingredients in the dilapidated basement under the Scientist's Workshop. They drug them back before Eight helped Three and Four find tubs that could hold said chemicals. Seven, Nine, and Child then moved onto using an old banner to block off an area between two bookcases.

Finally the darkroom was made and yet again Nine found himself unable to do anything alone. "I'm not going to damage anything." He insisted as Child worked at one of the first pictures, bathing it in a noxious mixture. "Of course you're not." Child responded, Nine didn't know if he was purposely being patronizing or not, "But if you somehow get bleached then they won't be able to tell us apart. The last thing I want is to mate with myself." He got a small bit of a reassuring smile, though Nine almost pouted at his inability to actually work as well.

Finally the photo was hanging up on a wire stretched between the two bookcases and finished the process itself. Child began working on a second one while Nine admired the first, an amused smile popping up as he noticed the picture of himself with the silly and rushed grin. Child looked upwards towards the picture and smirked a little, "That's defiantly worth saving." Nine now followed with a quick, "It'll go good with your picture. I know you're probably not smiling in it." Soon the Child photo was hung up as well and came into view.

Something glass in the bottom right corner of the camera's vision had caused a reflection, causing half of the photo to be a white mess, but Child was still visible enough, optics widened and staring in surprise at the flash. It got a light chuckle out of Nine before he noticed that Child hadn't finished. He was already prepping another part of the film and the younger decided to speak out, "You don't have to keep going. I know you don't want to…" Honestly Nine did want to see the rest of the pictures, but he didn't feel right cornering Child into it, especially considering that they were mates.

"It's fine." The pale male announced. His voice sounded tired and not very pleased, but he was absolutely certain. "I'm already here with the supplies anyway… And the last thing I want is for you to shove your hands in and bleach your fabric or something." With all truthfulness he wouldn't have done this for anyone else and was partially considering not doing it at all. Yet it made the other happy, so that was a just enough reward. As he continued working he eventually noticed the other male move behind him somewhere and disappear.

All it took was two arms sliding around his waist from behind to alert to where Nine had went. The younger male held him in a secure embrace before resting a soft kiss on his shoulder. It drug a smile out of the albino male who gladly accepted the touches that dripped love. He turned back to give him a kiss on the side of the head, unable to do more as his hands were busy. The cuddling and the photo fixing continued until Nine helped hang the third one and the fourth was worked on while that one began to set. Yet to Nine's surprise the photo was nothing more than a blurry mess of spots.

He didn't need to be told what happened and instead guessed quickly, "This picture failed… I guess it was just a damaged part of the film." Yet when a second was strung in its place, the first tossed aside, and it too came out badly Nine became discouraged. "I don't understand, the first two were fine!" Child wasn't nearly as shocked and shrugged a bit as he looked at the film, "Over the years maybe the film lost its imprint. That would make reasonable sense at the least." Nine seemed to slump a bit and Child insisted, "We'll try one more. I have a good feeling about this next one."

He hadn't even started on the next one yet and Nine smiled a little, "Third time's the charm." This one was does carefully and precisely, hung to dry, and after a few minutes the same blurs began to appear. "Damn it." Child swore a bit, rinsing and drying his hands before thoroughly giving in. Nine still held out and after a short while later he gasped, "There's something appearing!" Child raised a brow and approached to face the picture, and though the image was faded and hard to see there clearly was an image.

The picture depicted a lot of about ten or so humans standing in front of a building on the steps. The ones in the front sat on the steps so that those behind could be seen more clearly. Most of the group were composed of human females with smiles and short locks of dark hair that framed their faces, but there were also three well-dressed men and one young child boy in the front. Everyone seemed happy and from this image Nine could see not a stitch of evidence about the war or the Machine. The building behind him was just a normal, undestroyed building.

"This was worth the effort." He announced happily and Child was surprised, "You're happy with this? I could try some of the others." The zippered male shook his head, "Not now. Maybe later on, the dark room isn't going anywhere." He started to take the photo down as Child remarked, "You would be surprised. Watch, by the end of the week we'll have a family of rats living in here." Nine chuckled at the comment and took the photo into his grasp, admiring what was almost like a poster to something his size, and then headed out with the albino following.

Once entering the twins' workshop he smiled and approached the two. "Maybe you two would like to put this in your book?" He offered in a friendly fashion, showing them the picture. The two were surprised, but immediately were intrigued by the picture and nodded to him gladly before rushing to their book. It wasn't quite a news clipping but Nine thought it meant something. Thought that it was worth being seen as a tribute to the past. He followed by lifting the previously abandoned film and heading out. As he passed Child he lured him with a, "Come with me."

Child was a little confused at Nine's suddenly quiet behavior, but went along with it, and soon the two were standing outside in the middle of the courtyard again. Child showed Nine how to put the new film in and soon the camera was ready for more pictures. The younger now took the time to place Child before the camera, nearly dragging him over and setting him in a specific spot before checking from the camera's angle. When he went to move him closer Child spoke, "Not that this isn't interesting, but what exactly are we doing? Taking another picture?" He guessed quizzically.

"That's it." Nine agreed with a smile, checking the camera and finally deciding that they were seated in the correct spot. "I was thinking about it when I saw that picture of the humans. When you look at it you don't see a war, you don't see machines, you just see them, alive, happy. I want us to have that too. I don't want two pictures of us with wide optics and crazy smile, I just want picture of us being happy." He smiled to the other male as he peered over the top of the camera he was hunched over behind, "So that, someday, someone can look back at us and know that we were happy."

"I…. I like that idea." Child simply responded, his own small smile beginning to grow as the zippered male headed over. The albino angled himself so that one of his extra arms could slip out and press the button while the main part of the picture, the two of them, would be still the clear image. He put an arm around Nine's lower back and Nine returned the gesture, though higher on his back that Child had decided to. He faced the lens that had attracted him in the beginning and waited for the picture to be taken with his smile still intact. He made sure to give a less crazed one, a clear one, and to keep himself clearly visible in view.

It was at this time that Child decided to turn his head and mimic Nine's previous affectionate behavior. He smiled a bit and pressed his lips to Nine's cheek lovingly. Now Nine's lopsided smile returned, "Child!" He mock scolded before turning his head fully to press their lips together in a quick kiss. It was at that moment of met lips that the flash went off and the two were caught in that exact moment.

Neither regretted it; they were confident that they had photographed happiness.

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**Mable: I actually didn't know that 1930s cameras were so reliable, but I did some research and some of those same cameras still exist and work today, so it's not unbelievable that one still works in the Emptiness. The other requests will be finished soon. Cloud on the Cloud; I hope you enjoyed it! ^-^**


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